a student's look at eating, fitness, and studying

Tag: artichokes

After coming back from the East Bay last weekend, I felt unusually happy/self-confident/optimistic about life. I say “unusually” only because honestly, it has been a rarity for me to have these feelings hit me on a consistent basis. After years of dealing with depression and an eating disorder, as well as starting my recovery journey and really giving myself time to heal, grow, and learn about myself, I am now starting to feel ready to reach out and challenge myself with new and exciting things. I don’t feel as though I’m 100% recovered, but I feel I have improved SO much even after a little over a year of “real recovery”.

I feel ready to form more friendships and social relationships, to put myself out there and show the world who I really am. This readiness feels so thrilling and exciting, but at the same time I’m not sure what to expect. I’m putting myself in a really vulnerable position, but to be honest I’m not too afraid about that. In fact, I kind of want to challenge myself and shake things up from their current routine.

It’s going to be a slow process, but I think taking things slow is a wise decision for me at this point. If I want these changes to be sustainable and rooted, then I have to go about it carefully. But since it is all so new, it will feel like I have something to look forward to everyday 🙂

I can see I’m being vague about these “new and exciting changes”, but I just wanted to express how I’ve been feeling lately without going into TOO much detail…if things look promising, I’ll be able to disclose more ;)!

Besides embracing these all too-new feelings, I’ve also been embracing some new flavors of some recently tried and reviewed products. Before Vitamin Shoppe ended their BOGO 50% off D’s Naturals products promotion, I got the Raspberry Lava Cake and Salted Caramel Sundae flavors to try over the week. I go through jars of nut butters like nobody’s business so getting two for the week was just standard protocol 😛

D’s Naturals Raspberry Lava Cake

The Raspberry Lava Cake D’s Naturals spread tasted like mild chocolate peanut butter with a hint of fruit . A lot of the oil settled at the top and it was hard to get some to mix well at the bottom, but nevertheless it was a good flavor

The Salted Caramel Sundae had a smooth texture and taste that was easy on the palate. It From the two, I thought I would like RLC more, but I ended up having a stronger preference for SCS due to the fact that it has a smoother texture and flavor, and a mild caramel scent.

Salted Caramel Sundae D’s Naturals Spread

During the same trip to Vitamin Shoppe, I also found the birthday cake flavor of Optimum Nutrition’s cake bites. While I thought the other two flavors were alright, I thought these bites were perfection.

Optimum Nutrition Cake Bites – Birthday Cake

The white chocolate coating had a firm enough texture to allow for it to have some crunch. And the sprinkles…it was like these three little bites were designed to be served as kid-friendly petit fours.

On Saturday, I had to make a trek to the downtown area (haha, I remember when it was pretty much my backyard…). I was starving by the time 2pm hit, and pizza sounded like the best idea ever.

Blaze Pizza near DTLA

It was my first time checking out Blaze Pizza, and I knew from the likes of the menu that the Art Lover sounded the most appetizing.

Time to add some toppings.

After laying out my crust, the woman behind the counter added the essentials: … Yeah, I could have made a completely different pizza that was customized to my design, but I found comfort in the description of the Art Lover.

I saw people around me feeling too full, having to carry-out half eaten pizzas. I was able to stomach the whole thing and not feel like I was going to burst! I may have had Italian seasoning-breath for the rest of the day, but a good pizza pie is worth it.

There is nothing like waking up without an alarm clock, with your eyes feeling refreshed and your body at peace. This was exactly how I felt the night I went to sleep after working for 43 hours without rest. It’s something I never, ever want to do again, but believe me when I say I have never felt more restored than I did after (deeply) sleeping for eight hours straight after that.

I needed a cookie+coffee after this all-nighterrrr

I didn’t get up and go run, or immediately get ready for lab (even though I did have to go in for a bit in the afternoon). Instead, I practiced some self-love by showering, stretching, and making some breakfast for me to eat on the go while walking to the train station.

My sister sent me this Fat Cell microbe plushie for my birthday <3

The last place I wanted to be that day was lab, but I was able to work up an appetite and get back to Santa Monica around 3pm for a late lunch. I strolled along Main St., stopping only when I got to Areal across the street.

Areal Restaurant

I was slightly confused at first when trying to find the entrance, thinking I needed to walk by a bar and a huge patio in order to get to the restaurant, but instead I ended up standing awkwardly in front of what I assumed to be the kitchen, with wait-staff running around me. No one acknowledged I was even there/willing to direct me to where I should be seated, which I found to be quite rude.

Got some water in a mason jar after finally getting a seat.

I made my way back outside, and found out that the person in charge of seating was outside the wall that guarded the patio. Even talking to her was a chore, as she had that “I’m-only-working-here-until-I-make-it-big-in-Hollywood” attitude, and all I wanted was a seat.

The patio seating was gorgeous though!

After being told the brunch selections were no longer an option since it was past 3:30pm (gasp!), I was pretty much left with salads, sandwiches, or pizza. My 43-hour sleep deprivation experience still left me craving an immense number of carbs, so pizza sounded more appetizing to me than usual. When Mr. “I’m-only-working-here-until-someone-discovers-me-walking-shirtless-on-the-beach-and-makes-me-famous” came by, I gave my order for a marinara pizza with pineapple, onion, and artichoke hearts (basically a Hawaiian without the ham).

Look at that flying saucer beauty…

My pizza came out with steam still flying off of it, on a black pan and its own elevated stand. Across 10” of thin-stretched dough was a coating of marinara, mozzarella, onion, artichoke hearts in cubed, layered pieces, and pineapple cut in the most exquisite way.

That pineapple slice though!

I was accustomed to associating cubed pineapples as a pizza topping, but seeing pineapples sliced like this—in disc form—was much more aesthetic in my opinion. I finished every last bite, and with no crumb on my plate or tray, I felt sleepy in the best way. Walking home under the bright sun only exacerbated my sleepiness, and once I got back home all I wanted to do was take a long nap.

My plans to finish packing Saturday night for my week-long trip to Oklahoma were thrown out the window, but I believe my reasons were justified. I needed to honor myself for working so hard during the week, and if it meant scarfing down a pizza and napping away the rest of my Saturday, then that’s just something I had to accept 😉

I’ve always had a sweet spot in my heart for the month of May—it truly is a month of changes, but the changes are usually hopeful, sometimes with a tinge of nostalgia, and almost always involve connections.

It also is the beginning of “free time” for a lot of people, since students are free to go on vacation (if they aren’t necessarily given a summer break anymore, which is my case!) and usually, people have a more relaxed schedule in general.

Even though my work has not died down in the slightest (actually, I would say it’s increased over the past two weeks and my summer will most certainly be busy), having a boss away for the summer does allow one to be more flexible schedule-wise 😉

And when your flexible schedule meshes with another person’s blogger’s schedule, it’s bound to result in good happenings.

I was able to meet Julianna this past Saturday, and chat with the vibrant lady over some hot, fresh-out-of-the-brick-oven pizza. I’ve been following her blog over the years, reading about her undergrad journey in UCLA from the beginning. She’s graduating soon and heading off the Atlanta, and I couldn’t be more excited for her 🙂 !

We met outside the pizzeria Prova, and thankfully my awkward handshake didn’t scare her off (haha, it’s a habit I developed after grad school interviews two years ago!).

Prova Pizzeria

The enticing menu made us take a while to make a final decision on what to get, but Julianna got one of the tomato sauce-less pizzas with egg on it while I went the same sauce-less route, ordering a mozzarella pizza with artichoke and mushrooms.

Our pizzas were the thin-crust kind, with a really flat center and easy to fold. Seeing the golden yolk on Julianna’s pizza made me second guess my pizza choice, but seeing as though I left nothing but half a piece of one slice’s crust, I’d say I wasn’t too regretful of my pizza combination.

Mozzarella with artichokes & mushrooms 🙂

I always get a bit nervous before blogger meet-ups, but once they happen, I find my nervousness to be a silly feeling. In the few blogger meet-ups I’ve had to-date, I’ve always left each feeling happy that I got to know someone I’ve been following for years in person. Julianna was no exception, and her energetic, positive personality certainly matches how she expresses herself in her blog posts.

Another pic cause it was just that good.

One of the things we asked each other was our favorite dessert, and of course I had to say ice cream. Even though I couldn’t find a certain flavor of Halo Top I thought would be in any of the grocery stores near Prova, I happened to find it the next day close to home, and stayed true to my answer 😉

Halo Top Birthday Cake! It’s been so coveted that only three (!!) pints were left when I stopped by my local grocery on Sunday.

Sprinkles, that’s it?

Would I say it was worth the hype? Probably not…I mean, it had sprinkles and a very creamy vanilla flavor with an iced-cake like texture (if you can imagine that), but it got really old, really quick. I guess putting confetti-colored sprinkles on anything nowadays means it’s a birthday cake :/

The packaging is cute tho.

Do you get nervous before blogger meet-ups or meeting someone for the first time in person?

About

Hi! You can just call me P. I'm an LA-Based Foodie, two-time marathoner, and a 3rd-year grad student with eyes on the PhD prize. I'm all about living healthy and happy, and cherishing the three best things in life---family, friends, and food! Thanks for stopping by :)